This week on Biotech Nation, Paul Hastings, CEO of Nkarta and former chair of BIO—the Biotechnology Innovation Organization—discusses the impact of cuts to research funding and stepping away from recommending vaccines—what this means for you and the biotech industry. 

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Mark Kendall, CEO of WearOptimo, tells us about progress with their new wearable. You could be dehydrated and not even know it … And exactly how hydrated are you right now, anyway? The old “if you’re thirsty, drink something” turns out to be a little too late. 

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Neal Kassell, founder of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, introduces us to a powerful, non-invasive technology that’s already changing lives, and it doesn’t involve surgery, injections, or pills. 

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Raza Bokhari, CEO of Medicus Pharma, shares a new non-surgical treatment approach for basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer. Their novel microneedle patch delivers a powerful cancer drug directly into the skin, avoiding the scarring, cost, and discomfort of Mohs surgery. With promising phase 2 trials underway in the US and Europe, this could change the way we treat millions of skin cancer cases every year. 

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Eric Topol returns to continue his conversation on, "Super Agers … An Evidenced-Based Approach to Longevity", his evidence-based approach to living longer, healthier lives. He shares why longevity must be accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy, and how new tools like AI, personalized diagnostics, and even gut hormones are reshaping the future of health. 

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Eric Topol, professor and Executive Vice President at Scripps Research and author of "Super Agers … An Evidenced-Based Approach to Longevity", breaks down what science really says about aging well and what is just marketing. From immune-boosting cell therapy to the myth of magic longevity pills, Dr. Topol explains how evidence-based prevention, personalized health data, and AI are changing the future of aging. 

This week on Biotech Nation, Dr. Neil Kumar, founder and CEO of BridgeBio Pharma. Dr. Kumar emphasizes that genetic diseases, particularly Mendelian diseases caused by single gene mutations, are solvable due to advancements in genetic measurement and understanding. He discusses BridgeBio Pharma's innovative corporate structure, which consists of multiple specialized companies under a centralized infrastructure to efficiently tackle various genetic diseases. This model allows for focused expertise on individual conditions while sharing common resources. Dr. Kumar highlights the company's commitment to using diverse therapeutic modalities, such as small molecules and gene therapies, to develop treatments that address the underlying causes of these diseases. 

This week on BioTech Nation, Robert Blum, CEO of CytoKinetics, joins me to talk about the company’s decades-long mission to keep hearts beating stronger and longer. With one heart drug under FDA review and more in the pipeline, CytoKinetics is working to address the full spectrum of heart failure, from weak hearts to overactive ones, and even exploring muscle health beyond the heart to support healthy aging. 

This week on BioTech Nation, BioSTEM Technologies CEO Jason Matuszewski explains how donated placental tissue is being used to treat chronic wounds that just won’t heal, from diabetic ulcers to pressure sores. With millions affected and traditional care often falling short, BioSTEM’s approach offers a new way to support healing and reduce scarring. 

This week on BioTech Nation, Biotech Entrepreneur, Dr. Jake Glanville, Founder, Chair and CEO of Centivax, gives us the insider’s view of this Biotech Breakthrough – from the first telephone call through each significant step, all leading to the first breakthrough generalized antivenom vaccine in 125 years.  

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Daniel Kraft, Tech Nation Health Chief Correspondent, returns with highlights from the 2025 NextMed Health conference. From AI-powered health agents to voice-based disease detection, hear what’s emerging at the intersection of medicine, technology, and global health equity. 

Dr. Peter DeMuth, Chief Scientific Officer of Elicio Therapeutics, discusses the revolutionary approach of detecting cancer at its earliest stages through circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) tests. Highlighting their innovative treatment method, which aims to train the body's immune cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells, the episode explores the potential transition from treatment to vaccine, offering hope for more effective and durable solutions.

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Cory Nicholas, CEO of Neurona Therapeutics, returns for part two. With early results now in from Neurona’s first clinical trial, patients with severe epilepsy are seeing dramatic improvements, including seizure reductions of over 90 percent, and even full remission in some cases. This one-time treatment delivers new brain cells that help calm seizure activity without the side effects of traditional medications or the risks of surgery.

This week on BioTech Nation, Dr. Cory Nicholas, Co-Founder and CEO of Neurona Therapeutics, discusses their groundbreaking success in treating drug-resistant epilepsy. With a single, targeted delivery of lab-grown brain cells, Neurona is offering not just symptom control but the possibility of long-term seizure relief. This is Part 1 of a two-part series exploring the future of regenerative medicine in neurology.

This week on BioTech Nation, we explore a new approach to cancer treatment that could help patients manage pain without compromising their care. Dr. Lorin Johnson, CSO of Glycyx Therapeutics explains how a new once-daily pill could help patients manage pain without blocking their treatment.

This week on BioTech Nation, Sameer Sabir, CEO of Brixton Biosciences, shares how their breakthrough injectable cold therapy, Neural Ice, could offer lasting relief for osteoarthritis pain. With a drug-free, nerve-targeting approach currently in clinical trials, this innovation may change how we treat joint pain without pills or repeated steroid injections.

This week on BioTech Nation, Luminary Therapeutics CEO Jeff Liter shares how his team is working to make advanced cell therapy easier to access and more affordable. Instead of using each patient’s own cells, they use healthy donor cells that are ready to go. This approach could help more people get treated for cancer and autoimmune diseases like lupus, with just a single dose. 

This week on BioTech Nation, Sean Ainsworth, CEO of ImmuSoft, explains how modifying the body’s own B cells to produce therapeutic proteins could revolutionize drug delivery. From improving treatment for rare diseases like Hurler syndrome to potentially replacing injections for autoimmune and metabolic conditions, this new approach opens the door to long-term, patient-specific solutions.